“Educating Rita,” the award winning play by Willy Russell, will be on stage at the Martin-Lipscomb Performing Arts Center as a Small Stage Production. Though it’s on a small stage, it’s big on drama, comedy, romance, and possibly a little bit of classic tragedy, as two of the area’s very own stars, Jennifer Royce and Stuart Armor, under the direction of Bart Patton, an actual movie director from Hollywood Calif., bring this story to life.

The play follows the relationship between a young working-class hairdresser and Dr. Frank Bryant, a cynical middleaged University lecturer, over a year of night classes. Rita, who is as eager and driven as Frank is not, gets a breath of fresh air the more she learns, and eventually even Frank opens up the window of his closed world, possibly for the first time in years.

The Small Stage Production is co-produced by the Martin -Lipscomb Performing Arts Center and the Highlands-Cashiers Players. “Educating Rita” will be onstage June 15-19 and again from July 1-3. Tickets may be purchased by calling PAC: (828)526-9047